Bridges and Chords (open)

[levifaollan]

Levi leaned against the bridge that crossed the Little Tiber River. Okay it was more like a creek then a river. The sun was starting to go down but dinner wouldn’t be for another half an hour. Levi watched the clouds in the pink sky float by. It had been a nice day of training and he had even gotten in a few rounds of boxing in with his buddy. His knuckles were bruised and they ached, yesterday he had even bloodied them up against the wooden training dummy that he used. Levi tightened up his jacket around his neck as there was a little bit of a breeze blew across the back of his neck. Levi even tightened the hat around the top of his bald head. That was the worst possible thing about losing the bet, now his head was really, really cold. Levi could bet anything that his ears were ice cubes. But that was what had gotten him into this rather frigid situation to begin with.

Levi rubbed his hands across his knuckles. Love was written across his knuckles and this was one of his hardest hitting fists. Kind of ironic, but to be honest love hurts. It could really hurt, anyone could get hit by it and it could strike at any moment. Then on his other fist was written hate. They were his first tattoos and they hurt so much. But the bruises under the ink that had been permanently etched on his skin, shown like black splotches on clean white parchment. But despite the beauty of the sunrise, he was out here for something else. It was quiet and this was the first time he had gotten a chance to get away for a while. He pulled his guitar up on his lap and started to strum. At first, Levi was just messing around, playing random notes and chords. The sound resonated against the stone bridge where he sat. His fingers flew up and down the fret board, practiced and well trained as if it was a second nature. There were a lot of things that was on his mind at this particular point. He thought about his little brother and wondered how he was fairing; he wondered what his useless dad was up to. Levi thought about his mom, his grandfather, the conversations he used to have with Jussi and Jukka. He did miss being a bit younger.

Levi paused in his playing, thinking that he had heard something, but it seemed to be nothing. He continued to play his music. He started to pick out a song that was a favorite of his to play. It was a good song and it was fun to sing. Levi really wondered if his mom was Venus. Then he thought about all of the girls that turned their heads when he walked by. Sure he was a normal guy who happened to be fairly….well not so much good looking. But Levi saw beauty in everything that was around him. If you were pretty on the outside, it did absolutely nothing unless the beauty was matched on the inside. That was what was important. If your personality was crappy your looks were crappy too. Levi liked his siblings well enough, but some of them could be so petty and vain. Levi gave a sigh as he leaned against his guitar as he perched on top of the side of the bridge.

[Deleted]

That day was cold, people seemed to want to hide inside their barracks or rooms, one could hardly see someone out there. But vivian liked the cold days, she used to enjoy them a lot with Michael, they still were campers by that time, yet after all the trainings and all the punishments, they always found some free time to be together and play around. But since he died, she just enjoyed being out there in the cold wether, it was a way to remember him, a way to still feel his warm skin against hers.

She kept walking down the hill, she had just been in Mars Ultor's temple, she brought some stuff to offer them to the god, then she asked him to send her love to his son, who would be for sure under the warm light of heaven. After that she went to the minor gods' temple and there she offered some stuff to her mother, she had never seen her in her life, still she felt she should do that once in a while. After all all her godly gifts came from her.

Then she walked down the road and instead of going to her apartment in New Rome, she decided to go for a walk around, maybe visiting Camp Jupiter, maybe remember her days in that place. The air was blowing really hard and cold she had to close her eyes for a moment to let the air pass through her. Then she continued walking. A sweet melody got to her ears and she looked around looking for the source of it. "I'm too far from the forum to listen to any songs, right?" she told to herself.

She continued walking until she found the source of the music. It was a guy playing a guitar. He was standing on the bridge, playing his guitar in one of the most delightful ways. Vivian walked closer, trying to be as silent as she could be, she didn't want him to stop playing. In a way, that song was calming her soul in a soft sweet way. She walked up to the base of the bridge and stopped there looking at him. She smiled and closed her eyes for a moment.

She remembered the few moment she spent with Michael like a common couple of teens. She didn't know why, but that song made her remember her lost love, it hurt, yet she didn't feel hurt or full of rage, she just felt the love he showed to her nothing more nothing less, she felt in peace. She opened her eyes and breathed deeply the cold air, then risking to bother that guy, she decided to talk. "That is a beautiful melody." she smiled again.

NOTES: I hope it's ok that I join

[levifaollan]

Levi paused for a moment and closed his fist. Some of the scabs had broken open and started to bleed once more. He wiped it off with the bottom of his black shirt before continuing to play. Maybe he should actually go and get it treated by someone in the infirmary, but those scars were something that he loved and took pride in. They showed how much he had learned, how much better he had gotten and the path that he chose to walk through life. His life was a really hard path and now he was signed up for another ten years in the legion, something that no other Venus child would ever do. Maybe they would have, Levi thought as his fingers flew over the strings. It was mainly done by muscle memory, he wasn’t even thinking about the song he had been playing. Sure this stuff made him think about his dad, that disgraced son of Apollo, but of all the pushing that man did, it was something that he enjoyed. Levi made a small prayer of thanks to his grandfather; the last rays of sun made his face feel warm.

His mind wandered out to his cohort. The people were a bunch of fresh faces and many of them were green. Levi would help try to train the new recruits. There were many from the same sort of walk of life that he was, he would do the best that he could to help. Like when Edmund got turned into a pig, Levi tried to offer him some help. The son of Vulcan from the first Cohort was stubborn and didn’t like people, but Felicity, a daughter of Pluto decided that she would take it upon herself to socially rehabilitate him. Levi knew that eventually the guy would come around, this place tended to grow on you. He blinked, a voice bringing him back to reality. Levi turned his face out of the last rays of the sun and looked at the girl who had told him that the melody was beautiful. The name of the girl escaped him, but he had seen her around. She had mustered out a few years ago, or at least he thought she did. Levi could have been mistaken. It wouldn’t be the first time that he was wrong, nor would it have been the last. Levi blinked, trying his hardest to get the sun spots out of his eyes.

“Oh thanks.” Levi said at the compliment of his song. He cleared his throat, trying to keep his voice from sounding like a crocodile and a bullfrog decided to lend them his voice. Levi always thought that he would become a rockstar one day. But when the day came that he could muster out and do whatever he wanted, he chose the legion. “I wrote it myself. After the battle of Mount Orthys.” Levi said, quietly. He wrote a lot of music, he was more like his grandfather than his mother. Sure he had his mother’s charisma and charm, but that was something that could have helped him become a great musician. “I’m Levi Faollan, Son of Venus and Legacy of Apollo.” He said extending his bleeding hand to her to shake. He realized his knuckles had busted open again before wiping them off on the hem of his shirt again. “Sorry about that. The wooden dummies I practice on are a bit less forgiving than a punching bag.” Levi stated.

Words: 581
Song: here

[Deleted]

Vivian looked at the man when he stopped playing the song to look at her. He seemed to be tall, maybe more than a head taller than she was. It wasn't difficult at all, she was a tiny woman. He had tattoos all over his body, which she found really sexy, she lived with her father all her life before going to Camp Jupiter. Her father was both a great novelist and a chopper, so she met a lot of men with tattoos. she wasn't scared of them neither found them weird, on the contrary she found them extremely sexy and atractive. but how old would this man be?

“Oh thanks.”
She smiled a bit more, but then her smiled turned into a really sad one when he gave her more information about the song's origins. “I wrote it myself. After the battle of Mount Orthys.” his words and remembering the melody that she had just heard were like a blast of pain shot directly to her heart. She blamed herself to be such a weak link in the Camp. Legionaries, Campers, roman demigods should be like that, they should be able to hide those emotions deep inside their souls and never allow others to see them, but she couldn't do it, not when Michael was the reason of those feelings.

"Well... I can tell you that it totally reflects the emotions and feelings of all of the ones that fought that day..." she tried to keep her smile, she knew it wouldn't be wise to show her weakness in front of anyone. "You must be related to Apollo to be so good at reflecting all of that in a song." She said and breathed deeply to be able to swallow the knot in her throat and keep herself calm and cool.

then the man introduced himself. “I’m Levi Faollan, Son of Venus and Legacy of Apollo.” She smiled when she noticed she was right, he was related to Apollo, but was a surprise to see that he was also related to Venus. He didn't look like a Venus son, all of them looked so neat, so different, not as good as this guy looked. He stretched out his hand to shake hers, she could see the blood on his fists and then nodded at him when he apologized for that. “Sorry about that. The wooden dummies I practice on are a bit less forgiving than a punching bag.”

She shook his hand. "I'm Vivian Nikky López, I'm daughter of Victoria. It's nice to meet you Levi Faollan" then she broke the hand shake and lifted her hand to show him the back of her hand. her fists were all marked by scars, some small, some deep, some old, some still pink and new. "I understand, keeping in shape with good trainments is what a good roman demigod should always do." She winked her right eye and then looked at his hand again. "But I think you should have someone check that for you, just to stop the bleeding."

Then she looked at the sunset and sighed, another day had passed by. "So... Levi, what are you doing out here all alone? you should play inside, so everyone could listen to that beautiful song."

[levifaollan]

She was a bit on the smaller side, but then again, most of the females were smaller than he was. Levi tended to tower above a bunch of the other campers; he was always the oldest, the biggest, but not always the strongest. Levi really had his own way of doing things. He normally didn’t like to talk about the battle of Mt. Orthys. Just mentioning the name made a lump form up in his throat; Levi swallowed hard and tried his best to compose himself. He didn’t need the memories making him soft, but being a legacy of Apollo and a son of Venus, there were just things that hit him more than others as far as emotions go. He was a very passionate lover, or so he was told by the few girls he had a rather brief relationship with. Apparently, Levi’s way of seeing the beauty in others and in the things around him was something unexpected and people loved that he could see that. If he could bring smiles to people, his day was made. That was what his goal in life was. He just wanted others to be happy and right now he figured that being in the Legion was the best way to serve and protect.

Her smile turned sad as he mentioned Mt. Orthys. That was a battle of great importance and yet it held a lot of sadness in many people’s heart. “I’m sorry; I guess we all lost something in that battle. Some people are affected more than others.” Levi said slowly, not quite sure how deep the depths of the emotional scaring was with this particular girl. There was always something about the emotions of others that intrigued him. No two people reacted the same way to the same thing. “I felt horrible myself after I came too after that battle. I don’t think anyone else was lucky like me. Took a spear through the ribs and lungs from one of the guardians before I was taken out.” Levi said in a half-hearted voice before putting a hand on his ribs where the spear pierced his side. Every so often, the scar twinged and hurt like nothing you could imagine, but it wasn’t debilitating. Mostly it hurt every time he dreamed about the battle. The images were fresh and brilliant in his mind as if he was reliving it time after time.

Levi smiled as she introduced herself. A daughter of Victory. Levi knew that there were many minor gods children that held incredible powers. “Being a daughter of Victory carries a load of weight. You have much power.” Levi said with a nod. The children of luck were like that as well, they didn’t realize how much power they had. Even the mightiest children of Jupiter and Mars could be felled with a single bout of bad luck. He glanced at the blood on his knuckles before nodding. “I probably should, but I earned these scars with my friends, each one of them is a memory that I treasure. Just like all my tattoos are memories that I love. They are my life, I mean quite literally.” He said as he raised his arms to show her the inside. There were thirteen score marks under the dove with the SPQR tattoo. Around it was a line of spears to signify his two best friends. “But it is nice to meet you Vivian.” He said with a big smile.

“I’m out here to kindda present the song to my grandfather. And kindda to my mom too. Doing songs like that in a temple is kindda frowned upon by that scrawny little augur.” Levi admitted. “Besides, My stuff isn’t really that good and not too many people around here have a good ear for music.” Levi stated. It was rather true, some of the Mars kids complained that it broke their concentration while they were training or trying to get some sleep.

[Deleted]

The memories of Michael fighting against the titans filled her mind, she closed her eyes and as if they were a vivid movie, she remembered all of it, the sound of iron clashing against iron, swords everywhere moving and almost dancing in a deathly dance. The smell... it wasn't just one scent there, but hundreds.

There was blood everywhere from the ones that had already fallen under the mighty Titans' power, there also were the scent of sweat that brave fighters were spilling around as they fought for their lives and the lives of their fellow campers, also the scent of burning skin and leather, those among many others, that Vivian's nosetrills got that day and that her memory would never let go, they would be part of her for the rest of her life.

Then she listened to Levi's voice and she opened her eyes, she looked at him. “I’m sorry; I guess we all lost something in that battle. Some people are affected more than others.” He said and his voice sounded deep hurt too, as if he had been hurt deep in his soul in that bloody battle. “I felt horrible myself after I came too after that battle. I don’t think anyone else was lucky like me. Took a spear through the ribs and lungs from one of the guardians before I was taken out.” She saw how he put a hand on his ribs and then she frowned and closed her eyes for a moment.

On that brief moment, she saw Michael's face while they were fighting against those titans. She was 19, he was 20. It was his last year of service, he was going to leave that place to become a fighting coreographer or a soldier in the mortal world, but he couldn't get to that. She remember how one of their enemies threw a whole set of arrows against her. In that moment she was focus on making the legionaries win that battle, she already had several injuries done by swords on legs and arms, one big slash on her back, but she kept working to keep her power up to help the campers.

So when the arrows were about to his her body she didn't realize about them until it was too late. Michael got between the arrows and herself. She heard the metalic points getting through human flesh. She looked at that direction and saw at him, he was smiling. he just told her to be careful. She smiled and nodded, then went back to fight. Minutes later she looked back for Michael, he was on the ground. She ran to his side but only got his last breathe, then he died.

She opened her eyes, the memory had just taken a second in the outside, just a blink. she looked at Levi with a faint smile. "I know of a Pluto girl... a legacy or something like that, she got a really nast sword stab in the chest, but she survived." then she looked again into his eyes. When he said that it was a huge responsability to be Victoria's daughter. She nodded and smiled at him. "yeah... I know" she said in a cocky way.

"I got severly injured in that battle because I used my mother gifts to help my fellow campers to win..." She smiled widely but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes and voice. She couldn't help everyone to win. Then she sighed and calmed down, her natural smile got back to her face. "I thought I maybe go to las Vegas to use my gifts, but My mother doesn't allow me to use them if there is any personal gain in that," she said and shrugged, but she was joking, she would never use her gifts like that, she only wanted to see his face.

When he told her that his scars were his life and showed her the marks, she opened widely her eyes and smiled It was amazing to see how proud he was to show his battle scars. "I'm glad you're so proud of them. Then you should only cover your fists with a cloth until they stop bleeding, that way you'll keep your scars but won't stain that beautiful guitar with blood" She smiled a bit more. She didn't ask if his friends were alive or not, she didn't want to open an old wound if they weren't.

Then he told her why he was out there. “I’m out here to kindda present the song to my grandfather. And kindda to my mom too. Doing songs like that in a temple is kindda frowned upon by that scrawny little augur... Besides, My stuff isn’t really that good and not too many people around here have a good ear for music.” She didn't know what to say, he had gone out there to offer that beautiful song to his grandfather and mother, she had just drop by.

"I'm so sorry... I didn't know..." she bit her lower lip. Offerings were very important, specially if you did them from the bottom of your heart, so she felt as if she had interrupted something sacred. "I think most people here have a clasic ear, not a modern one, that's why they don't like that music, but it is beautiful!" she sighed and then smiled again. "I'll leave, and let you offer that song to them..."

[levifaollan]

Levi smiled at Vivian, he was glad that she liked the song. He had put a good bit of time and effort into the song. For the moment it was his heart. August and the other Apollo kids were more into the bit of classical music then they were into other types. Though Levi had known an Apollo kid or two to be country music singers. That was fairly amusing. They seemed to have a particular fondness of violins and singing. If Levi had to put up with opera or classical music being the only sort of music around, he was guaranteed to go crazy. Some of the more upbeat stuff was alright, but if you listen to too much of the slower stuff, it was gonna make him go nuts. He didn’t know how much more of it he could take. But at least it was times like this that gave him a bit of hope for the Roman humanity. That crappy twilight series left much to be desired as far as humanity. Even his grandfather wouldn’t touch that with a stick that ran from here to Olympus.

“Thanks for helping us out. Few people realize how powerful the children of Minor Gods can be. I don’t mean that your mother is any less than mine, don’t get me wrong. But things like Luck and victory are nothing to sneeze at.” Levi said with wink of his eyes. This girl had quite a spark and quite a sadness to her. Levi was fairly perceptive to the emotions of other people. For good or ill it was one of the few gifts his mother had given to him. For the most part he used his intentions for good. But occasionally he had to use his gifts for something a bit mischievous. Levi always meant well in everything he did, even if his methods were a bit unconventional. He wanted his results and how he ended up with those results was something that was much to be desired.

“It’s all good; my buddies are some of the best. Some of them aren’t here anymore, but their memories are alive and well.” Levi gave a grin as he ran his hand over a particularly nasty looking white scar that ran along the length of his arm. He blocked a longsword with his bronze bracers and this one broke and he ended up having to be in the infirmary for near three days while he was getting stitched up. Or the one here on his knuckles where he punched a mars kid clean across the chin, denting his helmet so bad Levi had to help a Vulcan kid find a crowbar to help prying the helmet off of the guy’s head. That was something else. It was a priceless memory.

“You’re fine. There’s much beauty in the song when it is presented with a beautiful woman at your side. I’m sure my grandfather and mom don’t mind the extra beauty in the offering.” He grinned and nudged Vivian with his elbow. Some people took offerings way to seriously. Like that scarecrow of an Augur that strutted his stuff around New Rome like he was some kind of big shot. If he was really as big and bad as he was, he should have seen that little catastrophe that Felicity had caused a few years back. Levi didn’t dislike her, but he was cautious around the Pluto girl. Better safe than sorry. He would be able to defend himself if the problem ever arose again. He really didn’t like the whole undead thing but Felicity was fairly cool.

[Deleted]

When Levi thanked her for helping all of them in that brutal and bloody war, she looked into his eyes and shook slowly her head. No matter how much she had been told that victory was a very powerful gift and that if it wasn't because of Victoria tons of them would have died in the battle field, she had never felt so special. "Don't mention it. It was my pleasure and duty to do it, besides no mater how hard we minor gods' children work, if legionaries weren't skilled, then they would have lost that war anyways." She smiled widely at Levi.

She looked at his scars while he talked about his buddies. He seemed to be really happy of recalling the memories in that moment, remembering them by his scars was a beautiful roman offering to his late friends, so as his friends which were still alive. "I know what you mean..." she said and almost felt how a scar, that crossed her back from her left shoulder to her right hip, burnt her body once more just because she remembered the moment she got it.

She had been training really hard, like 4 years ago, to win a swords fight against another group of campers. It was going to be a hard training session at Mars fields. Michael and other of her good friends, who were by that moment in Tartarus, were part of her team. Michael was the leader of the group. That day they fought as they had never done it before, but as always some accidents had to happen.

She was fighting against a Jupiter's daughter, when she saw her group needed some help, so she used her Victoria's gifts to help them. that dragged her gifts to them and left her unprotected, dark side of her powers, if she used them on others, she lost their protection. Jupiter's daughter got a slash of her sword on the face, but next thing she new was that she got a slash all over her back. Ended up in infirmary for almost a week, but she survive, that was good and her group was ok and they won. "I also have very interesting memories due my scars."

Next Levi's words made her blush even when it wasn't her intention to do it. He had said she was beautiful and that she would be a good complement to his offering to his mother and grandfather. She wasn't used to be called like that, she wasn't a daughter of Venus or Cupid to be called like that! She bit her lower lip and then smiled at him with her wide smile. "thank you very much, I only hope your Mother and Grandfather think as you do." She stood there by his side then she felt her face burning, so she looked at the sky, trying to make the darkness of the night to hide her blush.

[levifaollan]

“I’m just saying that no matter how skilled the legion gets little things like victory and luck can go a long way.” Levi said with a nod of his head. It was true and some of the brutes in the Mars line didn’t understand how the little things could go like that. It was something very important and to a degree, Levi thought that the minor gods could be much more powerful than one of the major gods.

“All of my tattoos and scars have a story; they have a lot of meaning to me and nothing anyone could tell me to get rid of them. My body is a history and a tale of my birth, my life and even when I die. But of all the tattoos, my legion tattoo is the most important.” Levi’s hands lingered on the thirteen score mars in black along his wrists. Thirteen stripes, thirteen years of service. As far as he knew, Levi was the oldest member of the legion. He thought of the battle of Mt. Orthys, of quests he had been on, people he had loved and lost. Thirteen years was a long time for change. And change, that was something that had come with time. Levi wasn’t the same kid he was when he came from the wolf house. Lupa changed him and the legion changed him. The only thing Levi could do was give back to the Romans who had such a major part in his life. “These mean more to me than all the imperial gold in the armory.” Levi mused in a voice, it was low and sure Vivian could hear him.

The wind suddenly whipped around him, it was a nice warm breeze. Deep in Levi’s heart he knew his grandfather approved, and then there was a sudden scent of roses and perfume. It was soft on the breeze and barely there. Most people wouldn’t have noticed it. But it was a smell that Levi had associated with his mother. A scent that his mom had was calming and it was nice, but it was her approval too. There was much more to his mom than other people knew. They thought that Venus children were petty and vain, Venus was about being loved and loving others for the beauty they had deep in their hearts. It was their personality, their likes, their dislikes, their loves, what they did, even that little kid Edmund, the little social misanthrope, that kid had a beauty for his crafts. Levi couldn’t deny it. Maybe Edmund didn’t see it that way, but Levi did. “My mom and Grandfather approve. I think they like you.” Levi said with a wink to Vivian. “My mom really knows beauty.” Levi turned to look at Vivian’s face. “You’re eye’s have a fire and a spark in them that I can’t put my finger on, but it’s beauty is more radiant than a thousand suns. Anyone that has you would be the luckiest man on earth.” Levi nodded. It was something about her latent personality that glowed from her. There was a sadness, but there was something else that shown through.

[Deleted]

Vivian found it kind of funny and cute when Levi nodded after affirming that the gifts that the minor gods would give the skilled soldiers were so important. She didn't think like that, not all the time, for her her gifts were good, but no luck or secured winning was compared to the skills in a soldier or the will in a heart, but she just liked the conviction with which Levi affirmed it. "Well, maybe you're right" she said and looked back to the sky, she saw the star up there and smiled at them.

Then Levi's voice sounded again and Vivian looked back at him, there was something in his voice that mesmerized her, and it wasn't the charm that Venus could give him, no it was himself who made that magic. He talked about his scars and that they told his story, from the moment he was born, to the moment he would die. She looked at the ones in his hands and arms, they for sure were special. "They must be special and unique..." she smiled a bit more and looking into his eyes she said. "When I was a girl, My father showed to me and explained to me the origin of the tatto on his back and arms. It was the tree of life from the ancient nordic Mythology, He had put a branch for each of the important things that he had done in his life, so... it was amazing to see that ink proof of his life's actions. So you're right when you think that those are more important than gold."

She said and smiled at him as a fresh breeze surrounded them and the slight smell of roses filled her nosetrills. She froend because she hadn't felt those things before, well maybe once or twice in the past, but not that she could connect with any specific moment in her life. then Levi smiled as if he had felt and smelled the same things she had or it would be better said that he felt them before she did. He said that his mother and grandfather had approved her. That his mother really knew beauty. She frowned at those words, she was speechless!

"oh... really?" She asked in a low voice, then looked around and bit her lower lip, how could Venus think she was beautiful when she had been the reason to two people a boy and a man to di to protect her?! She should be a nearsighted goddess!! Maybe she liked to play with mortals like almost all of the gods! "tell them that I'm thankful" she said and swallowed thickly. But the words that followed that were like a bomb to Vivian's mind and heart.

“You’re eye’s have a fire and a spark in them that I can’t put my finger on, but it’s beauty is more radiant than a thousand suns. Anyone that has you would be the luckiest man on earth.”

Vivian felt how her heart beat like a crazy centaur in the woods, she didn't know what to say, her brain was numb and the feeling of her heart and Levi's closeness wasn't helping her to think in a proper way. "Levi... I..." what could she say? just a flat thank you? she could if that guy Jason or any other had told her the same thing, she didn't care about them! but Levi... he was a different guy! He was her kind of different guy!! "thank you..." sh finally said. "But I don't think that having me would bring any kind of luck to any man..." she said and looked to the river as she felt how her whole body was burning red.